breast cancer recurrance....same spot, or different location

Hi Lea,

Yes this happened to me, a true local recurrence (same spot, same pathology) and I wondered the same thing; why didn't chemo and rads work?  No good answers, it is what it is .

Unfortunately, no treatment currently available completely eliminates the risk of recurrence.  Rads cuts recurrence risk by about 50% but this means that 50% of the women who would have recurred without rads still have a recurrence, even after having rads.  

lea, I'm curious.  Was your first DCIS also grade 1?  And do you know what your margin size was after that first surgery?  Grade and margin are two of the most critical factors in determining recurrence risk after a diagnosis of DCIS. I also notice that your signature line indicates that your second diagnosis was DCIS but it mentions Stage I. Did you have some invasive cancer along with the DCIS and is that why you are Stage I?  The other thing (sorry, I'm full of questions!) is that I notice that your first DCIS was ER+/PR- but your second diagnosis ER+/PR+.  Hormone status can change with a recurrence but the fact that the hormone status is different also raises the possibility that this isn't a recurrence at all, but is a completely separate primary breast cancer, unrelated to the first diagnosis.  That would mean that the rads worked, but now you developed a new breast cancer, just as any woman can, whether she's had BC before or not. Any of us who've been diagnosed with BC face both the risk of recurrence (i.e. the original cancer wasn't completely removed and/or killed off and it develops again) and the risk of a new primary (a new unrelated breast cancer).  Even those of us who've had a mastectomy still face both risks, although the odds are obviously quite low if almost all the breast tissue has been removed.

Hello, first was dcis on left side, estrogen negative in 1-09. Fast forward to 9-12 same breast same place but estrogen positive. Had bilateral mastestomy 10-9-12. Now I don't know what to do, couldn't take any pills after the first one, but don't know if I should take them now?????  

Well, my PET scan showed only cancer in the right lymph nodes, but no cancer in the breast. And thankfully no cancer in body yet!  :-). My case is at Tumor Board today to discuss whether I should have a mastecotmy on the right. The doc is not sure where the cancer is coming from if it is not showing up anywhere but the lymph node. I am leaning towards asking to remove my tram flap as well as the rt. breast, but then of course, I go back and forth and  being very upset about it all. I am very afraid the cancer is hiding in the tram. (the place of the 2010 recurrence)

I was DX with a positive lymph node 0.8mm/ 0.4 mm with extranodal extension of 9mm a few weeks ago after 2.5 years of my initial DX of stage 2. Just had surgery 7 days ago.

 It looks like I will start chemo next week TCH X4. 

My first chemo was dd AC/TH, bilateral mastectomy + axillary dissection and reconstruction. I was on Tamoxifen while this happened.  I was soo happy that I had a complete pathological response and I did not think that the cancel will return however the surgeon and the oncologist are not calling this a recurrence . According to them this was residual cancer left behind.  HMMMMM frustrated.

Jmf, I noticed that your first cancer was DCIS which means it was containd inside the duct, right? Then why did they give you chemo? I was told that if it does not break out of the duct then it has not traveled anywhere else in the body and therefore no chemo. And then your second cancer would have to be a new, second cancer instead of a recurrence,right?  I am wondering if I had the wrong information....